Friday, March 23
Evanston, Ill.
3 p.m. CT
Northwestern
18-8, 1-0
3
vs
2
Minnesota
17-12, 0-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
R
H
E
Minnesota
0
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
7
2
Northwestern
0
0
0
0
0
0
3
3
8
0
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
NU Rallies In Seventh To Stun Minnesota, 3-2; Saturday Game Delayed
3/23/2018 5:19:00 PM | Softball
EVANSTON, Ill. – Trailing by a pair of runs entering the bottom of the seventh, Northwestern pulled off a three-run rally to stun Minnesota, 3-2, Friday in the Big Ten opener at Sharon J. Drysdale Field.
Northwestern's active winning streak now is nine games, its longest since winning 12 in a row during the 2009 season. The win also was the 1,200th in Northwestern program history; the Wildcats are 1,200-872-4 (.579) all-time dating to 1976.
The Wildcats are 18-8 overall in 2018 and 1-0 in the Big Ten. Minnesota falls to 17-12 on the year with its loss, 0-1 in the conference.
WEATHER UPDATE: The Wildcats and Gophers meet at 2 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, March 24, in the second game of this series at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. The game is delayed from its original 1 p.m. start time to allow for playable conditions to be met.
BUY YOUR NORTHWESTERN TICKETS AND SEASON PASSES HERE!
First-year Rachel Lewis narrowly missed a home run in her first-career Sharon J. Drysdale Field at-bat, sending a soaring fly ball into the wind in left with Marissa Panko standing at first, but the ball was caught at the wall in a scoreless first inning.
Minnesota was able to seize momentum from the moment and take the game's first edge in the top of the second. The Gophers started their rally by getting runners to second and third with nobody out before Lewis recorded the first out at the plate on a ground ball. Starter Morgan Newport then induced a little infield pop-up for the second out, but a two-out double scored a pair and put Minnesota in front, 2-0.
The Wildcats mounted a rally of their own in the bottom of the third. With one out in the inning, Kenna Wilkey singled up the middle and Sabrina Rabin reached on an error, with the 'Cats ending up at second and third with one away when the play finally finished. Minnesota got the next Wildcat to strike out before Lewis walked to load the bases, but a comebacker ended the threat with no runs across.
While Northwestern fought for scoring chances, Newport heated up in the middle innings to keep the Wildcats within striking distance. She stranded a runner in scoring position in the fourth with an inning-ending strikeout, then retired the Gophers side in order in the fifth and sixth frames.
Meanwhile, Minnesota kept quashing rallies before Northwestern could start them. After a one-out single in the fifth, the Gophers threw out a would-be base stealer. Then, in the sixth, Lewis led off with a walk but Minnesota fielded a hot-shot to third and turned a 5-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the seventh, Northwestern finally broke through. Brooke Marquez led off the inning with a hard-hit two-hopper to short that took a horrific hop up high off the fielder's shoulder for a base hit. Abbey Boyd entered to run for her and moved to second with Sammy Nettling landed a single onto the line in left field. Newport sacrificed both runners up a bag, and Emma Bartz entered to run for Nettling. Wilkey walked to load the bases, and she too gave way to a runner in the form of Mac Dunlap.
With the lineup flipped, leadoff batter Rabin stepped to the plate and chopped a ball high off the glove of the third-baseman that the shortstop was able to glove deep in the hole. Boyd beat the throw home, and then the ball got away from the catcher, allowing Bartz to race in with the tying score. Panko put the finishing touches on the comeback with a single laced into left, bring Dunlap in to end the game.
Newport (8-2) got the complete-game win, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Rabin, Panko and Marquez all had two hits apiece in the game for the Wildcats. Lewis walked twice.
Northwestern's active winning streak now is nine games, its longest since winning 12 in a row during the 2009 season. The win also was the 1,200th in Northwestern program history; the Wildcats are 1,200-872-4 (.579) all-time dating to 1976.
The Wildcats are 18-8 overall in 2018 and 1-0 in the Big Ten. Minnesota falls to 17-12 on the year with its loss, 0-1 in the conference.
WEATHER UPDATE: The Wildcats and Gophers meet at 2 p.m. CT tomorrow, Saturday, March 24, in the second game of this series at Sharon J. Drysdale Field. The game is delayed from its original 1 p.m. start time to allow for playable conditions to be met.
BUY YOUR NORTHWESTERN TICKETS AND SEASON PASSES HERE!
How do you cap a comeback? Check out the seventh-inning scoring plays from today's 3-2 #B1GCats walk-off win over Minnesota!
— NorthwesternSoftball (@NUSBcats) March 24, 2018
??» https://t.co/v6SnmOBgaP pic.twitter.com/Ik8X24BmHh
First-year Rachel Lewis narrowly missed a home run in her first-career Sharon J. Drysdale Field at-bat, sending a soaring fly ball into the wind in left with Marissa Panko standing at first, but the ball was caught at the wall in a scoreless first inning.
Minnesota was able to seize momentum from the moment and take the game's first edge in the top of the second. The Gophers started their rally by getting runners to second and third with nobody out before Lewis recorded the first out at the plate on a ground ball. Starter Morgan Newport then induced a little infield pop-up for the second out, but a two-out double scored a pair and put Minnesota in front, 2-0.
The Wildcats mounted a rally of their own in the bottom of the third. With one out in the inning, Kenna Wilkey singled up the middle and Sabrina Rabin reached on an error, with the 'Cats ending up at second and third with one away when the play finally finished. Minnesota got the next Wildcat to strike out before Lewis walked to load the bases, but a comebacker ended the threat with no runs across.
While Northwestern fought for scoring chances, Newport heated up in the middle innings to keep the Wildcats within striking distance. She stranded a runner in scoring position in the fourth with an inning-ending strikeout, then retired the Gophers side in order in the fifth and sixth frames.
Meanwhile, Minnesota kept quashing rallies before Northwestern could start them. After a one-out single in the fifth, the Gophers threw out a would-be base stealer. Then, in the sixth, Lewis led off with a walk but Minnesota fielded a hot-shot to third and turned a 5-4-3 double play.
In the bottom of the seventh, Northwestern finally broke through. Brooke Marquez led off the inning with a hard-hit two-hopper to short that took a horrific hop up high off the fielder's shoulder for a base hit. Abbey Boyd entered to run for her and moved to second with Sammy Nettling landed a single onto the line in left field. Newport sacrificed both runners up a bag, and Emma Bartz entered to run for Nettling. Wilkey walked to load the bases, and she too gave way to a runner in the form of Mac Dunlap.
With the lineup flipped, leadoff batter Rabin stepped to the plate and chopped a ball high off the glove of the third-baseman that the shortstop was able to glove deep in the hole. Boyd beat the throw home, and then the ball got away from the catcher, allowing Bartz to race in with the tying score. Panko put the finishing touches on the comeback with a single laced into left, bring Dunlap in to end the game.
Newport (8-2) got the complete-game win, allowing two runs on seven hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
Rabin, Panko and Marquez all had two hits apiece in the game for the Wildcats. Lewis walked twice.
••••••
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Newport, Morgan (8-2)
L: Amber Fiser (11-7)
Batting:
2B: MaKenna Partain 1 ; Allie Arneson 1
RBI: MaKenna Partain 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Allie Arneson 1 ; Dani Wagner 1
SB: Maddie Houlihan 1 ; Ellee Jensen 1
Batting:
RBI: Rabin, Sabrina 1 ; Panko, Marissa 1
SH: Newport, Morgan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Boyd, Abbey 1 ; Bartz, Emma 1 ; Dunlap, Mac 1
SB: Panko, Marissa 1
CS: Rabin, Sabrina 1
Game Leaders
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
2
RBI
0
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
OF
/ Softball
OF
/ Softball
IF
/ Softball
IF/OF
/ SoftballIF
/ SoftballC
/ Softball
P/U
/ SoftballIF/OF
/ SoftballOF
/ Softball
P
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